Martyn Rochester

Short description

London tech house connoisseur and party organiser, showcasing gems, rarities to reggae and beyond.

Started

1994.

Typical genres

London tech house, tech house, reggae.

About Direct links Standout mix and tracklist Webpage log

About

Martyn Rochester co-organiser along with Liz Edwards, of the well-known Kerfuffle parties in London and beyond. Martyn witnessed (and maybe even arranged) Swayzak’s 1st ever live performance in London (that is right), in 1997, and has co-organised many tech house parties, starting around the golden age of 1997 and going on, even until this day!

For 15 years has been resident at my own club Kerfuffle. Liz Edwards and I, established a messy but homely house for London’s friendliest house and techno crowd, and a serious roster of talent and top tunes, that has no doubt, stood the test of time!

It has seen me spin next to Terry Francis, Colin Dale, Asad Rizvi, Bushwacka!, Eddie Richards, Pure Science, Murf, Tom Gillieron, Nathan Coles, Nick Harris, Rick Digs, Charles Webster, and many many more. These people and their music have defined and directed the soundtrack to his life. Since Martyn, Liz and Freddie Freeloader dreamed up Kerfuffle some 25 years ago, at a Positive/Wiggle after party, on Devil’s Dyke. Promoted Rumpus in Soho, and has played for Wiggle, The End, and Kenny Hawke’s era-defining Space parties. From running with West London roots sound system King Alpha in the 1980s, to keeping house and techno’s freak flag, flying in South London, and since his move to Saltdean, making him a now bona-fida [genuine, real] Brighton bwoy.

But hang on, due the the frivilations of life, there is another story by co-founder Liz Edwards, saying Kerfuffle was established in a pub in Stockwell, London in 1997. Since it has gone onto venues around London (including Fabric nightclub) and all over the United Kingdom. The party was glued together by a community, lovingly built with sounds from respected selectors, and this level of community nurturing, is something Liz Edwards has repeatedly been credited for having a special (Midas) touch on, oh yes! She created a truly special atmosphere at Kerfuffle, through the decades. ‘When we 1st started, the term tech house had yet to be invented” writes Martyn Rochester, in the about section of Kerfuffle’s website. ‘Applying it to Kerfuffle, is almost accurate, but not quite. Our music bubbles under without ever banging. It is always funky, but never formula. It embraces electronica without noodling, US house, without the divas and techno, without the ego’.

Kerfuffle tech house parties

To try and define Kerfuffle is not easy. We have had many defining moments over the years, since we 1st put a couple of decks on a table, at an old pub in Stockwell, London, back in 1997.

They have had many defining moments, like the time Eddie Richards had them queuing round the block, even on the 1st Friday after New Year. Or Swayzak’s 1st live set, or the time Mr.C won the Easter egg hunt, or when Pure Science threw up 3 times, without ever missing a note. We have had all-dayers, chillouts, even excursions to Switzerland. We have been weekly, fortnightly, and monthly. We once even had a UV maypole [a tall pole decorated with ribbons and flowers, that forms a centre for May Day sports and dances], that got literally ripped into pieces, by trophy hunters. Over the years they have built up something special. A VERY special bunch of people, who havefelt more and more comfortable, just being with each other, as we have all grown closer together. People we used to share lifts with after Heart and Soul, back to the legendary after parties at Music City. People we have travelled to Brighton with, in search of Wiggle by the sea. Above all, people who have told us exactly how they like it, and who have kept on coming back, to have some more. In fact, over the past 30 years, the Kerfuffle crowd has been what has held it all together, and the music of course.

Over the years we have dragged our crowd kicking and screaming, to some amazing venues in, around and under London! The Plug in Stockwell, the Father Red Cap in Camberwell, The Mucky Duck at Loughborough Junction, Fortress Studios off Old Street, plus a couple of wine bars in Notting Hill. And at a hazy succession of dawn-tinged after-party havens, we have often kept the party going longer than perhaps, even we should admit (like 3-day acid house parties in the 1990s!). We always strived to establish a safe happy place, where party heads can relax, feel secure, and let go, without ever feeling under surveillance.

Since 2009 and a move to Brighton for Liz Edwards, and then with Martyn Rochester’s move to Saltdean, Brighton. Kerfuffle has increasingly become a tale of 2 cities (London and Brighton). From Positive Sound at Kerfuffle in 2013 (a link up with Brighton’s Positive Sound in a warehouse in Lewes), we have been building our South coast presence, but still love London’s diversity and opportunities, and just cannot stay away.

Last year we held parties in Hove, on Saltdean Beach, Brighton, as well as back at our old lounge at the Jamm, in Brixton. This year, we have already got parties booked in at all these places, and more.